Jim.
To follow up on your response E.G. in the southeast who has such good neighbors. This reminds me of the small town in Maine where I grew up. Back in the day[s of early pioneer settlement]. this community, like so many agricultural ones in the region, hosted homesteads that were spread out much like E.G.’s friends in the southeast. At the time, raids by indian parties were the norm as relations fluctuated between harmonious and deadly.
As it was more than obvious that a homestead family alone could never hope to hold out against a band of forty warriors bent on pillage, the community made provision for the common defense by picking a good piece of ground and building a blockhouse on it. This was stocked with arms, ammunition and provisions and maintained for the common defense and place of refuge. This system became the norm in the region and low and behold, the raids eventually stopped because the bands started bouncing off one block-housed community after another, and paying the price for it.
Jim’s sage advice along this line is not only spot on (as always) but also has deep American roots; individual people who work their lives as sovereign individuals but who in times of danger come together to form a cohesive group capable of protecting the whole…and having the pre-positioned goods and SOPs in place to make it happen.- Mosby